Sunday Feedback: School evaluations require a close look

Each Wednesday afternoon, we post online a draft version of the next Sunday's editorial. We want to know what you think! Leave us your feedback in a comment on this story, on our Facebook page, via Twitter by tweeting to @CWOpinions or by emailing opinion@wdhmedia.com.

We'll incorporate reader feedback into the final version of the editorial, and on Sunday we'll publish selections of the responses on the topic. Please share your thoughts by the end of the day Thursday.

School evaluations matter, schools should work to improve

At best, standardized tests are a blunt instrument for measuring how our children are learning in schools. They flatten out the nuances and experiences that make for a good school experience. They reduce complex systems to a number or a letter grade that may not account for all the factors that affect how students score on tests, things like poverty rates.

But here's the thing: We need them. They matter, and we can't ignore them.

Collecting data on how our schools are doing helps us to identify the innovations and best practices that can help to improve the entire education system.

So the results of the new school district report card require a close look. The headline is great news: Local schools scored pretty well on the measure. Nine local districts all met expectations under the new state standards. We were especially heartened by how well schools are closing achievement gaps for at-risk student groups, such as English-language learners and students with special needs. The new report cards give credit to schools making progress with a high at-risk population - a crucial measure.

But in other ways, the new report cards are unclear. When the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination or the Wisconsin Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities, were released in April, they found that a mere 51.4 percent of students were succeeding at math and only 36.2 percent were succeeding at reading. There is a discordance between the two results that seems hard to reconcile.

Local districts must act to improve in these educational evaluations, but none of us should assume they capture everything about the educational experience, either. It is as true when local schools get good grades as when they fall short. That is a frustrating place to be, but that is where we are.

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Sunday Feedback: School evaluations require a close look

Each Wednesday afternoon, we post online a draft version of the next Sunday's editorial.

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